


Don't Make Me Dream Alone

by rikyl



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, a fic in which Betty and Archie date before Bughead happens, precanon au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 20:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13131570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikyl/pseuds/rikyl
Summary: One summer can change everything.Instead of going to LA for a glamorous internship, Betty Cooper finds herself stuck in Riverdale, caught between two of her best friends.





	Don't Make Me Dream Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loveleee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveleee/gifts).



> The prompt asked for a fic in which Archie decides he _does_ want to try dating Betty during the events of the pilot episode, exploring how that changes the way Betty's relationship develops with Jughead. I hope you don't mind I changed the timeline, going back to the beginning of the summer. Happy holidays, and enjoy!

“I'm not sure this is a good idea.”

Betty clutched tightly at the Tupperware container in her lap, which was filled with chocolate peanut butter chip cookies—Archie's favorite, by no coincidence. Noticing she was actually leaving fingertip indentations in the soft plastic, she consciously loosened her grip, and discreetly took three deep, calming breaths, pausing to let the air sit in her abdomen each time before exhaling.

“Betty, you have got to lighten up,” Polly said from the driver's seat. “It's just Archie, right? You've known him forever.”

“Yeah, but … ” She trailed off, unable or unwilling to explain to her sister what had changed. She had always thought she and Archie would end up together someday, somehow. She had always had a soft spot for his easy laugh, his loyal devotion, his calming influence. She had always assumed that soft spot--the tenderness and affection and comfort she felt in their friendship--would spark into something more when they reached some magic milestone, when the time would be right and things would just fall into place, when they would be together. She'd been patient--until this summer, when she'd suddenly grown incredibly impatient for something to just happen already. 

She wasn't even supposed to be in Riverdale this summer, but as she had gotten ready to send in the final paperwork for her internship in late spring, her mother had suddenly, inexplicably, infuriatingly, changed her mind about letting her go. Betty was _too young_ to be away from home. LA was too _far away, too dangerous_.

And so with all this time on her hands and no time to find a summer job locally, Betty had thrown her energies into baking, and into dreaming about the boy next door. If she could make this happen, this whole disappointing chapter of her life might be redeemed.

“God, you are so obvious,” Polly said, with a knowing laugh. “Give him your cookies. And then give him your _cookies,_ and just see what happens.”

Polly emphasized the second _cookies_ in a specific way, as if it was supposed to mean something other than baked goods, and Betty made a face at her, having no idea what that other something she was supposed to give to a boy to get his attention might be. So far, simply baking hadn't gotten her more than a few unexpected extra visits from Jughead, who had wandered over from Archie's house a couple times when her mom's car wasn't in the driveway, as if he could smell the kitchen aromas from next door.

“I'm not sure he sees me like that,” Betty said in frustration. “I'm the girl he grew up with, who he's known since forever. I don't know how to get him to see me any other way.”

“Girl next door can be very sexy.” Polly flicked her long blonde hair back behind one shoulder, in a move Betty was sure she'd never be able to pull off. “Besides, I'm not turning around to take you back home. Jason's expecting me to meet him at 4, and he only has an hour to spend before his dad wants him home.”

They were almost to the construction site where Archie was working this summer, and Polly was right. It'd be silly to back out now. Besides, they were just cookies, not the obvious and heartfelt confession she sometimes imagined them to be.

“You need a little rebellion anyway,” Polly said. “What mom and dad did to you this summer was shitty. You should go do something for yourself.” Polly pulled the car to a stop across the street from the construction site and turned to Betty with an affectionate smirk. “Or do _someone. _”__

Betty rolled her eyes and steeled herself for what was almost certainly going to be a straightforward delivery of baked goods, retrieving the thermos of lemonade from the cupholder before reaching for the door handle. As the door popped open and she started to step out, Polly's hand snaked across and yanked something from the back of Betty's head.

All her hair tumbled down, suddenly loose around her shoulders, and Betty swung back around to face Polly, her mouth dropping open. 

“What did you do that for?"

Polly flicked the hairband back over to her. “Trust me. You look hot, sister. Now unbutton your shirt at the bottom and tie it up.” 

_Betty blinked and shook her head a little, and Polly shrugged._

__

__

_“Suit yourself. I am the town's leading expert on attracting redheaded hotties, though.”_

As if Archie was anything like Jason Blossom. But Betty set the Tupperware and thermos on the front seat and grudgingly popped two buttons from the bottom of her sleeveless blouse and tied it up, so that a few inches of midriff now showed, then briefly stuck her tongue out at her older sister. 

“That's better. And Mom would be furious.” Polly grinned as if that was a plus, and based on the past few weeks, Betty was coming around to her point of view. Let Alice Cooper fume, see what she cared. 

__Not that she was going to go home like this later on._ _

__“You're going to remember to pick me up in an hour?” she asked Polly._ _

__“Of course. Have fun!”_ _

__And then Polly and her car pulled away, leaving Betty exposed on the side of the street opposite from where Archie was working. Self-consciously, she tugged at the bottom of her short shorts, but then realized with her shirt tied up like this, she was only going to expose more of her stomach that way._ _

__Well, here went nothing. She planted a smile on her face and set out at a determinedly casual pace toward the boy next door._ _

__\----_ _

__“Whoa, incoming.”_ _

__“Yowza.”_ _

__Archie looked up from the framework they were installing to see what the other guys on the crew were exclaiming about._ _

__Walking toward them, loose blonde waves swishing around her shoulders, miles of legs showing, short top molded by the breeze to show the contours of her—oh, shit._ _

__“Betty?” The name escaped under his breath. And no, he did not just check out his best friend's boobs. Quickly, he shot a glare at his coworkers. “Guys, cut it out. That's my friend. And she's my age.”_ _

__“Oh. Hard to tell from a distance.”_ _

__“Just a friend? Yeah, right, kid.” They both shot him a knowing look that was ridiculously off the mark. It was just Betty._ _

__Ignoring the older men's cracks, Archie set down his nail gun, wiped his face on a corner of his shirt, and set off to meet her, away from the other guys._ _

__“Hey, you're a welcome sight on a long hot day,” he greeted her, eyeing the cookies and lemonade. “Are those for me?”_ _

__Betty's smile widened. “Polly was coming out this way to meet Jason, and I thought you might like some refreshments. And I made too many, and I shouldn't be eating them. Also I really needed an excuse to get out of the house.”_ _

__“Away from Alice?” Archie smiled at her sympathetically. “Well, you never need an excuse to come see me. And I will gladly take any extra cookies off your hands.”_ _

__“I know you're always good for that.”_ _

__And then she smiled at him with that new smile he had just started to notice recently. It looked almost nervous, and it made him nervous, because he wasn't sure what was happening. Had he done something to make her doubt him? Had he missed something important?_ _

__“Um … well, hey, I'm overdue for a break. Do you want to sit down for a few minutes, catch up?” She nodded, again with the weird smile, and they headed for a small hill a bit away from where he'd been working. Betty sat down, stretching out her legs._ _

__As he followed a few steps behind, she unwound a hairband from her wrist and gathered up her hair into a ponytail. The motion of lifting her arms over her head hiked up her shirt even further and pushed her chest out, in a way that made Archie look away._ _

__In the past few years, all the girls they knew had grown breasts, including Betty. And he had still not gotten used to it._ _

__“What?” Betty asked, and Archie's eyes snapped back to her face._ _

__Thank god she had no way of hearing what went on inside his brain. He sat down next to her, putting about a foot of distance in between them._ _

__“Oh, uh, nothing. Hey, Betty, on second thought, maybe it's not a good idea for you to visit me here.”_ _

__“Oh.” Her whole face fell, and he immediately felt bad._ _

__“It's not … I like to see you, of course, and the treats are a nice surprise. It's just some of the other guys, they were saying stuff.”_ _

__“What? They don't like me?”_ _

__“Of course they like you. It's just, maybe they like you too much.” She looked at him with a furrowed brow, seeming to completely miss what he was saying. “You know … pretty girl, at a construction site. It can be distracting.”_ _

__“Oh,” she said._ _

__Archie shrugged, feeling suddenly awkward. He bit into a cookie, which was chewy and melty from the sun. It was fantastic, as all of Betty's cookies seemed to be. He'd never known her to do anything less than amazing._ _

__“Am I distracting you?” she asked, and he had to return his attention from the cookie back to the conversation._ _

__“Me? No, I'm fine. I'm used to you.” He opened the thermos and started to chug the lemonade, which tasted extra sour after the sweet cookie._ _

__“So you _don't_ think I'm pretty.”_ _

__She said it like it was a statement, but also like it was a question, and Archie had that feeling like when he was called on in freshman biology class and had no clue what the answer was. His ears started to burn._ _

__“Of course you are, I don't know. I mean, everyone knows you're pretty. You know that.” When he glanced over at her, she was smiling at him in that new confusing way again. “Um ... I should probably get back to work soon. Mind if I share these with the guys?”_ _

__"Sure. I made plenty."_ _

__"Thanks. Is Polly coming back?"_ _

__"She'll be back in a bit, but I'll be fine. I brought a book."_ _

__“Of course you brought a book,” he said fondly, and she smiled wider at him, looking more like the Betty he had always known with her ponytail fixed on the back of her head. He hopped up and started walking back to the other guys. “Thanks for the cookies! I'll make sure you get your plastic thing back.”_ _

__\----_ _

__“Uh-oh, you're still here. Is Polly a no-show?”_ _

__Betty looked up from her book to realize that yes, time had gotten away from her, and Polly hadn't come back when she had promised to._ _

__“Polly runs on Polly time,” she said, gazing up at Archie and enjoying the view as he walked toward her. His thin white t-shirt left little to the imagination, and his hair was positively gleaming in the late afternoon sun. “It's okay. I'm really into this book.”_ _

“What's the book?” 

Betty held up her copy of _The Bluest Eye_. “It's by Toni Morrison. I might have had a chance to meet her if my mom had just let me go to LA.” 

Archie wrinkled his nose. “Looks like homework.” 

__She smiled bemusedly. “Are you off for the day?”_ _

__“Yeah, I was just going to walk home. My dad's at the office today. Do you want to walk with me? It's a couple miles, but I like to stretch my muscles after working.”_ _

__Stretch his muscles. She liked the sound of that. “Sure, I don't mind a long walk.”_ _

__She gathered up her things and they set off toward the road._ _

__“Sorry I'm such a mess,” Archie said as they started walking. He lifted the bottom edge of his T-shirt to wipe off his forehead, giving her a full view of his abs and chest. She and Archie had been friends for so long, she'd seen him without his shirt on more than a few times, but he didn't used to look like this. “I could really use a shower before interacting with anyone after work.”_ _

__Betty's mouth opened, and then closed, her brain momentarily unable to get past the word shower. “I don't mind,” she finally said._ _

__Just then a car rolled to a stop next to them, and the driver, an attractive woman with long brown hair, slid a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses down her nose to peer at them._ _

__“Miss Grundy?” Betty said, surprised to see their teacher looking much less buttoned up than she was used to._ _

__“Hey, Miss Grundy,” Archie greeted her._ _

__“Archie? Betty? What are you doing out in this heat?”_ _

__“Um, building character?” Archie said._ _

__Miss Grundy looked like she might be about to offer them a ride, which seemed like a disappointing ending to this outing, so quickly Betty tried to put her off._ _

__“We're enjoying the sunshine,” she said cheerfully. “Archie likes to stretch his legs after his workday, and my doctor said I need more Vitamin D. And it's not that far.”_ _

__Miss Grundy glanced between the two of them, her eyes seeming to linger on Archie, with an almost wistful look that made Betty furrow her brow in confusion. “Okay,” she said brightly. “You kids stay out of trouble. Remember to hydrate.”_ _

__“Will do!” said Archie, and Betty watched him watch Miss Grundy's car pull away._ _

__“She seems different,” he said._ _

__“Yeah, it's always weird seeing a teacher outside of school, doing non-teacher things,” Betty mused. “But I suppose it's silly to think that Miss Grundy always wears her hair up in a bun, or that Mr. Jenkins wears a tie and sports coat to the gym.”_ _

__Archie snorted. “That's true. But I sure wouldn't want to see Mr. Jenkins in gym shorts.”__

He glanced behind them down the road, in the direction Miss Grundy's car had disappeared, and Betty felt an odd surge of misplaced jealousy at the usually prim music teacher, just that Archie had been so quick to see there was another side of her, even in such a small way. If only she could get Archie to see there was more to herself.

 _ _"I suppose a lot of people are like that," she ventured. "You can see someone every day and think you know them and think you know how you see that person, and then one day, you turn around, and you see them in a whole new light. You know what I mean?”_ _

__She touched his arm and stopped walking, so he stopped too, turning to face her. “Uh … you mean, like realizing a teacher who always seemed really uptight might not be?”_ _

__Betty shook her head. “No, I'm not talking about teachers anymore, Archie. I'm talking about when you see someone in one way for a long time, say, as a friend, and then you realize that you could see them differently." She could tell he wasn't getting it, and if she was going to get anywhere today, or any day, she was going to have be less subtle than letting her hair down or tying up her shirt. "I'm talking about us, Archie. I'm talking about the way I see you, the way I hope you will see me. I'm not the little girl you grew up with. I mean, yes, I am. But I'm more than that. I want to be more than that.”_ _

__“Betty, you know you're my best friend. You'll always be.”_ _

__“I know that. What I'm saying is that I don't see you as just a friend anymore. I see you as … you know. More.”_ _

Betty's heart was beating fast, and she wished she had better words to express how she felt, what she wanted, but the one she had landed on pretty much summed up her entire mood. She wanted _more._

Archie's eyes flickered uncertainly around her face, like he thought he was going to find some sort of answer written there, and she almost laughed, because that look was so him. He was looking down at her, his hair mussed up, his mouth open in surprise or confusion. Maybe he was just as nervous to make this happen as she was. Maybe she had to make this happen herself.

She felt a sudden surge of conviction. She needed to make _something_ happen for herself, and it was going to be this.

__Betty reached up and put her hands around his neck to pull him down to her and stood on the tips of her toes to reach him. Her last odd thought before she pressed her lips to his was that he'd had a growth spurt. He hadn't always been this tall._ _

The kiss was short, and in a word, uneventful. She didn't know what a kiss was supposed to be like, but she thought something more was supposed to happen. That Archie would possibly participate in some way. Not wanting to pull away enough to look at him yet, she pressed another kiss on the corner of his mouth, which seemed like a safer option than the one she had started with. 

__“Betty … doesn't this feel wrong?”_ _

__“Did I do it wrong? I'm sorry, I don't really know what I'm doing. I've never done this before.”_ _

__A new frustration surged within her. She hated not being great at something new as soon as she tried it. But she also hated giving up on something she really wanted to do well.__

____

____

__But his hands had landed reassuringly on her waist, and she felt steadied by that, enough to look up at him._ _

__“I don't know,” Archie said. “I haven't done this before either, or at least, I have, I guess, a few times, but not anything that really counted. It's just … I don't know. We're friends. You know.”_ _

She wasn't sure what all of those words meant in combination with each other, what Archie had or had not done with anyone else, but she liked the idea that she might be different—that she counted more than anyone else. 

__“We'll still be friends. We'll always be friends. We'll just also be more. We'll be friends who _do more_ together.” She had meant that to sound suggestive, and by the way Archie's eyes were now trailing down her body, focusing on certain curves that the girl he grew up with hadn't always had, she'd done okay. She bit her lip, pleased._ _

__“Oh,” he said, staring at her like he'd never seen her before. Or like he was finally seeing her._ _

__Boldly, she moved in closer to him, so his arms slid more snugly around her, and her breasts pressed up against his chest. It wasn't perfect; in fact, the sweat that had made his shirt cling to him attractively felt unpleasantly sticky from this distance, but she was too caught up in the romance of what was happening, what was finally happening, to care too much._ _

__He was looking down at her mouth now, curiously, and she smiled up at him, in a way that she hoped was encouraging._ _

__And then he kissed her. He kissed her. He was kissing her, and she struggled to acclimate herself to what was happening, and to remember to kiss him back. So this was kissing._ _

__It was wetter than she was expecting. And it was like their mouths never quite had the same idea at the same time. And he really did need a shower._ _

__But afterward, as they walked the rest of the way home, sneaking glances at each other, she couldn't think of it as anything less than a watershed moment in her life._ _

__She had kissed Archie Andrews. She had made that happen. And when she reached her door, smoothing out the wrinkles left from tying up the bottom of her shirt, she felt more in control of her own destiny than she had in a long time._ _

__\------_ _

Betty slid the copy of _The Bluest Eye_ into the return slot at the library and then wandered dreamily up and down the aisles of books, in no hurry to pick something. She had a lot of time to fill until Archie got home from work. She had a lot of time to fill this summer, period. 

She paused wistfully by the shelf of Toni Morrison books, letting her finger trail absentmindedly down the spine of a particularly well-used copy of _Beloved._

__As her mind wandered to the internship that might have been, a familiar face came into view in the next aisle over, popping up in a gap between the books on the shelf._ _

__“Betty Cooper,” Jughead said. “We have to stop meeting like this.”_ _

__Jughead seemed to have his own reasons to be spending a lot of time at the library this summer, since she'd run into him here three times in two weeks. It might be the most time they had ever spent together, without Archie._ _

__“We could make plans to meet, I suppose, if we're both going to be here anyway,” Betty said._ _

__Jughead made a show of considering this, resting his chin on his fist and looking upward. “Nah. Sounds too much like making a date, and I don't make dates. Although if I did, of course that would be the ideal way to do it, two people with their noses in a book, in a place where conversation is discouraged. Almost like being alone.”_ _

__He grinned at her, and she stifled a laugh at his self-deprecating joke, although it crossed her mind that the scenario he described did sound nice. “Well, since we're just two friends bumping into each other without a plan, I think we should be safe. Should I meet you at our usual spot once I pick a book?”_ _

__Jughead nodded and disappeared._ _

It was hardly a usual spot yet, but last Tuesday, they had found a couple comfy chairs in the corner by the old atlases and encyclopedias, where no one seemed to go. Betty pulled out the copy of _Beloved_ and made her way over. He showed up a few moments later, with a stack of paperbacks and his laptop, which seemed to go everywhere with him these days. 

“Another Morrison?” he commented. “Haven't you read that one, like, three times?” 

Betty glanced sheepishly down at her book. “Four, I think. I'm still in mourning. I know chances are very slim that I actually would have met her, but I still feel like I missed out on an opportunity. It's silly, I know.” 

__Jughead's eyes filled with understanding and he bumped her knee lightly with his fist. “Not silly. And hey, she missed out on a chance to meet the inimitable Betty Cooper.”_ _

__She smiled at him, surprised at the sincerity in his voice. “Thank you for saying that, Juggie.”_ _

__They read for a while after that in comfortable silence, or at least Jughead read, while Betty turned pages. She was having trouble focusing on the familiar words, her mind drifting to what had happened last night on the side of the road with Archie, and what might happen the rest of the summer, or even beyond that? She had been on such a high last night, butwoke up this morning with the realization that they had left things open ended. Were they together now? Did he think they were together? She wondered if she should tell Jughead, but she wasn't sure yet if there was anything to tell him, and she didn't feel comfortable asking his opinion on the matter like she would with Kevin._ _

__Jughead cleared his throat, and she realized he had looked up from his book. She blushed, feeling like her thoughts must be written all over her face. “Hey, have you seen Archie lately?” he asked, startling her._ _

__“What? Oh, of course, yeah. He lives next door, so I see him almost every day.” She laughed. “Obviously.”_ _

__“Right.” He looked back at his book then, but his gaze was fixed, so she could tell he hadn't gone back to reading. She felt guilty suddenly, for reasons she couldn't explain. “I haven't seen him yet this summer, that's all,” he finally said._ _

__“Oh.” Betty felt silly. Of course this wasn't about her. “Well, I know he's working a lot. And the football team is practicing three nights a week, and he's been spending more time on his music.”_ _

__Jughead shrugged. “Yeah, he's busy. It's okay, I just wondered.”_ _

__He went back to reading, looking more sullen than before, and Betty tried to focus on her book, but she couldn't help glancing at him every so often, checking. For what, she wasn't sure. She realized that for as much time as she had spent with him over the years, she didn't actually know a lot about Jughead's life. He played video games at Archie's house, he ran the movie projector at the Twilight, he spent a lot of time at Pop's. He was Archie's other best friend, and he spent a lot of time at all the places she spent a lot of time at. If he wasn't seeing Archie, who was he spending time with, other than herself?_ _

__He glanced at her at the same time she glanced at him, and their eyes met for a weird moment, and then he laughed. “We're both getting a lot of reading done today, aren't we, Betts?”_ _

__“I guess I am having trouble focusing today,” she agreed._ _

__“Same,” he said, looking at her for a moment as if he was trying to figure something out._ _

__Betty checked the time and realized her mother was going to be home soon, and would be expecting her to help with dinner. And she did not want to tick her off by being late a second evening in a row, in case Archie wanted to hang out later. “I better get going actually. It's later than I thought. You want to walk out with me?”_ _

__“Oh, um … not this time. I'm going to stick around to closing time, enjoy the air conditioning while I can.”_ _

__“Sure.” Betty gathered up her things and made a snap decision to be a better friend to Jughead than she had been in the past. “Well, I don't want to pin you down on anything because I know you have a rep to maintain, but I will be back on Thursday after lunch. If you happen to be here at the same time, I might see you then.”_ _

__He shot her a small grin. “If you're lucky.”_ _

__\--------__

____

____

_Hey, we're having pizza, you want to come over?_

__Betty stared at the screen of her cell phone, trying to read between lines that weren't really there. On the one hand, he wanted to see her. On the other hand, it was like any text he'd ever sent her._ _

__Maybe she was being silly. It's not like he was going to suddenly start using heart emojis._ _

_I already ate but would love to hang. Be right over!_

__It's not like she was using heart emojis either._ _

__She walked into the Andrews kitchen to find Archie and his dad and an extra large pepperoni pizza. It smelled fantastic, and suddenly Betty realized she was still hungry. Steamed chicken and green beans hadn't exactly been very satisfying, in spite of what her mother said about clean eating._ _

__“Hey!” Archie grinned, looking happy to see her, but then again he always looked like that. But his dad was right here, and his hand was full of pizza, so it's not like he was going to look at her any other way._ _

__She had to calm down._ _

__“Sure you don't want a slice?” Archie asked._ _

__Betty looked at the thick cheese, pepperoni, the piles of grease longingly. “I shouldn't.”_ _

__The next thing she knew, Mr. Andrews was pushing a plate into her hands, giving her a friendly wink. “I won't tell Alice,” he said. Then grabbing a beer from the refrigerator, he headed out of the kitchen. “I'm going to be in the living room catching the game.”_ _

__Then she and Archie were alone in the kitchen._ _

__“Hey,” he said, looking suddenly a little shy._ _

__“Hey, yourself,” she said, a giddy feeling spreading through her. She bit into the pizza, which was every bit as good as it looked. It made her think of Jughead, probably because he enjoyed pizza more than any other person on the planet. “Did you tell Jughead there's pizza?”_ _

__Archie looked at her strangely, and she wondered if that was weird, to try to invite a third person over, considering what was going on, or might be going, between her and Archie. But it's not like this was a date—this was pizza with his dad in the next room._ _

__“I would, but he never answers his phone. Straight to voicemail. He should keep it charged.”_ _

__“Oh.” Betty continued to eat her pizza, chewing on this new piece of information. “I don't think he has a cell phone plan like we do. Maybe he needs to put minutes on it,” she mused. She wondered if he had the money to add minutes, thinking again of the little bits and pieces she knew, or didn't know, about his life._ _

__“Then he should do that,” Archie said, sounding annoyed. “It's impossible to track him down now that school's out.”_ _

__Hardly impossible, Betty thought, considering that Jughead could generally be found in one of three places, Pop's, the Twilight, and the library._ _

__“You don't have practice on Thursday night, do you?” Archie shook his head. “We should all meet at Pop's. I'll tell Jughead.”_ _

__Archie looked skeptical. “If you can find him.”_ _

__“I know where to find him.” Betty filled Archie in on how she'd been seeing Jughead at the library these past few weeks._ _

__“That's so weird,” Archie said._ _

__“What, that we both read books?” Betty teased._ _

__“No, just that you're spending time together. It's fine, of course, I just never thought you two hung out when I wasn't around. I didn't even know if you liked Jughead.”_ _

__He didn't sound jealous, Betty noticed, just mildly confused, or amused._ _

__“We never have much before, but sure, I like him. He's a nice person. He's funny. We have some of the same interests.” She shrugged. “We've actually been having a nice time together.”_ _

__“Oh, well, that's good then. So, Pop's on Thursday night. I can do that.”_ _

__It occurred to Betty that she should maybe be trying to make plans to spend time alone with Archie instead, if things were going to happen between them, but it didn't seem quite as important as getting the two guys back together. She wasn't sure what was up, but with Jughead sounding hurt, and Archie sounding annoyed, and no one telling her what was going on, she suspected it was more than just a few missed calls._ _

__After dinner, she followed Archie up to his room and listened to him play around on his guitar. She loved watching him, how his bright hair fell forward over his forehead, how he furrowed his brow in concentration. She laid down on his bed and let the sound of his voice wash over her while she thought—about the three of them, about the way they had always been, and how things seemed to be changing. She and Archie might be dating. She and Jughead might be friends, for real. And she didn't know what was happening to Jughead and Archie. She wondered if she and Archie truly were dating, how that might affect the guys' friendship, if the three of them would still be able to hang out like they always had. What she had always taken for granted seemed fragile somehow._ _

__Abruptly she realized that the music had stopped, and Archie was standing over her. “Hey, are you okay?”_ _

__Betty swiped at her eyes, which were damp for some reason, and smiled up at him. “Just thinking. I think too much, I know.” She pulled herself and sat with her feet swinging over the side of the bed._ _

__Archie sat down beside her, with some distance between them, and then seemed to reconsider and scooted closer, so that their legs were almost touching. “If you weren't thinking too much, you wouldn't be Betty Cooper, and Betty Cooper is the best person I know.”_ _

__“Thank you,” Betty whispered. Impulsively, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the mouth. When she pulled back, he looked like he was about to say something. “What, what is it?”_ _

__He hesitated a moment, and then said, “It's nothing. I'm just not sure what's supposed to happen now. Do we just hang out like we always have?”_ _

__“I think so,” Betty said, although she had been wondering the same thing. The transition from best friends to something else was turning out to be more awkward to give this a try._ _

__“It's just weird, usually it would be a big deal for a girl to come up to my bedroom, but with you, it's like, you've always been here.”_ _

__“It's good, though, isn't it? We're already comfortable with each other.”_ _

__At least, that was how she expected it to be, in theory. So far, she just felt uneasy and uncertain, wondering what he was thinking, wondering what was going to happen, and how they were supposed to be with each other._ _

__“Yeah, I guess so,” Archie said, laughing nervously, and then he seemed to make a decision, leaned in, and started kissing her._ _

__It was better this time, not on the side of the road, in the hot sun, and he smelled nice, like soap._ _

__“Is this okay?” Archie said, pulling back long enough to check in._ _

“Yeah, it's okay,” Betty said, and she had the troubling thought that _okay_ was about the best word she could use to describe it. She felt so relieved, like this kiss was her answer, the answer she had been waiting for, and yet it didn't quite feel like the _more_ she had been expecting. 

__But it was Archie, the boy who she had been dreaming about for years, and so she assumed the issue was with her. Maybe her fantasies were unrealistic, maybe she just needed time, and practice. It's not like she knew what she was doing._ _

__\---------_ _

__Jughead wasn't reacting quite the way she had expected to her invitation to join her and Archie at Pop's. Which didn't make any sense, because he loved Pop's, and he wanted to see Archie. So she wasn't sure why she was having to cajole him into this._ _

They were back at the library on Thursday afternoon, in their spot by the atlases, but as soon as she had brought it up, his mood seemed to darken.

__“Are you sure Archie wants me there?" he finally said._ _

__“Why wouldn't he want you there? Did you guys have a fight that I don't know about?”_ _

__“No. I don't think so.”_ _

She continued to look at him, letting the silence become drawn out in the hopes that he would start talking to fill it. It was something she'd read that police officers would do to suspects, to get them to talk. She should try it on Archie sometime; it would work on him.

It wasn't working on Jughead, who probably had a lifetime's practice of giving away no more than he wanted to about himself.

__“Look," Betty said, giving up. "Archie's been trying to reach you, but he's just been having a hard time getting a hold of you. Is your phone maybe … not working?”_ _

__“I misplaced it,” Jughead said, evasively. “I'm not that hard to track down, though.”_ _

__Betty didn't know what to say to that, because it was true. But then again, vice versa was true too. Jughead could have sought out Archie. She didn't know what was going on, but she felt certain that if they could just sit down to dinner together at Pop's, like they had always done, they would see that nothing had changed._ _

__“Just come to Pop's,” she said finally. “He wants to see you. We both do.”_ _

__Jughead looked up sharply at that, and Betty suddenly felt self-conscious about the way she had phrased that. Like she and Archie had become a unit, altruistically inviting Jughead to tag along, and it wasn't like that._ _

“ _I_ want you there,” she revised, reaching for his hand, because she wanted him to know she meant it, because it seemed like he needed to hear it from someone, and he apparently wasn't hearing it from Archie. She knew what that sort of uncertainty felt like, and she didn't want him to feel like that. 

__She thought he might brush her off in discomfort, but his fingers closed around hers briefly, experimentally, his fingers lightly pressing into hers. Startled, she looked from their hands up to his eyes, which were soft with something she hadn't seen before, from anyone. Like he saw her. Like she knew she saw him._ _

__Warmth flooding through her, she let go of his hand._ _

__“So you'll come?” she said quickly._ _

__“Okay,” he said. "I'll come."_ _

**Author's Note:**

> I had hoped to post this as one long one-shot, but I am a slow writer, and picked a complicated prompt! So this will have at least one more part, posted in the next week or so if all goes as planned. I promise much more Jughead in the next chapter.


End file.
